Support for electric irons



-H. W. WILSON SUPPORT FOR ELECTRIC IRONS Feb.A 9, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 'lOriginal Filed Dec. 23, 1947 INVENTOR. Iy. Z Herben* M/.Wz'lson BY wwwATTORNEY.

Feb. 9, 1954 H. w. wlLsoN SUPPORT FOR ELECTRIC IRONS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2Original Filed Dec. 25, 1947 rig. 3

Herber PV. Wilson BY ATTORNEY.

Patented Feb. 9, l1.95.44

grasse lcs SUPPORT FOR ELECTRIC IRONS Herbert W. Wilson, St. Louis, Mo.,assignor to The Hoover Company, North Canton, Ohio, a corporation ofOhio Original application December 23, 1947, Serial N o. 793,433.Divided and this application January 23, 1952, Serial No. 267,823

15 Claims. (Cl. 38-7 9) This application is a division of myapplication, Serial No. 793,433, led December 23, 1947.

This invention relates to smoothing or pressing irons and moreparticularly to means for supporting an iron on -a supporting surface insuch manner that no hot parts of the sole plate can come into contactwith the supporting surface whereby textile material whether it be theironing board cover or the material being pressed will not be scorchedor burned.

Specifically according to this invention the iron is provided with anair cooled extension at its rear end extending rearwardly of the soleplate proper and with retractable supporting means at its front end,operable from the manipulating handle of the iron into extendedsupporting position so that the iron may be supported in an inclinedposition on the rearward extension and the forward supporting means.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent asthe description proceeds when taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawings in which:

Figure 1 is a side plan view of one modification of the invention partlyin section to better show the details of the support;

Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view of the modication of Fig. 1 throughthe front leg of the manipulating handle;

Figure 3 is a side plan view of a second modication of the inventionpartly in section to show the details of the support; and

Figure 4 is a cross-sectional View of the modication of Fig. 3 throughthe front leg of the manipulating handle.

Referring to the drawings the iron proper is the same for allmodifications and where the parts are the same they have been given thesame reference characters. The reference character I represents the soleplate with a resistance heater I I embedded therein. Secured to the soleplate in any suitable manner is a heat dissipating cover shell I4 whichis spaced from a peripheral shoulder I5 of the sole plate I0.

A manipulating handle I6 which maybe made of hard rubber, a phenoliccondensation product or other heat resisting insulating material, issecured to the cover shell I4 in any suitable manner such as by screwsIl threaded into inserts I8 embedded in the material of the handle. Thehandle I6 has a front leg I9, a rear leg 23, a hand grip portion 2| anda thumb rest 22. A control knob 23 for ladjusting a thermostatic control(not shown) for the heater II is rotatably mounted on the cover shell I4between the front and rear legs I9 and 2B of the handle i6. In eachmodication the front leg I9 of the handle I6 has a hollowed out recessas shown at 28.

The cover shell I4 is extended rearwardly from the sole plate II) and asupporting extension abutting against the rear of the sole plate Il) is2 attached thereto in any suitable manner. The supporting extension 24has two rearwardly and downwardly extending portions 26 having aircirculating holes 21 therein to maintain the supporting extension at alower temperature than that of the sole plate Eil.

Referring to Figs. l and 2, a bracket 30 is iastened to the underside ofthe cover shell I4 and has a pair of downward extending ears 3|rotatably supporting a pair of supporting legs 32 each having a pintle33 and an angular extension leg 34. The ends of the pintles 33. arehollowed out and are connected by a splined or square shaft 35 slidablyand non-rotatably positioned in the hollowed out ends of the pintles 33.The pintles 33 are spring-biased towardeach other by springs 33 abuttingat one end against the ears 3| and at the other end against theshoulders 3l on the ends of the pintles 33.

Attached to the inner side of the shoulders 3l are cam engaging members33 which cooperate with a'pair of downwardly and outwardly inclned cammembers 39 attached at their upper ends to the lower face of the bracket33. At their lower ends the cam members 39 have stop shoulders 4G whichlinut the rotary movement of the cam engaging members 38 as will laterappear.

Rigidly attached centrally of the shaft 35 is a pinion gear 4I whichcooperateswith rack teeth 42 on the lower end of a reciprocating plunger43 extending upwardly through the recess 28 in the front handle leg I9and through an opening 44 extending through the top of the handle I6.The plunger 43 is guided for vertical reciprocation by its enlarged end45 tting in the opening44 and a bracket 43 attached to the top of thecover shell I4. The plunger 43 is normally biased to upper position by aspring 4l positioned between the enlarged end 45 and the bracket 4B. Ashoulder 48 on the plunger 43 engages the bracket 46 to limit its upwardmovement.

Operation of Figures 1 and 2 The spring 41 normally holds the plunger 43in its upward position with the upper end 45 projecting above the handlei6. In this position the shoulder 448 buts against the lower side of thebracket 43 and the legs 34 lie horizontally closely against the sides ofthe cover shell I4.

When it is desired to support the iron in an inclined position as shownin the drawings the front of the iron is raised slightly and the upperend y45 of the plunger 43 is pressed downwardly. The teeth 42 on thelower end of plunger 43 will rotate the gear 4I clockwise as viewed inFig. l which will also rotate the shaft 35 and the pintles 33 clockwise.The cam engaging members 38 ride over the cams 33 whereby the pintles 33will be moved outwardly against the biasvof springs y36 as they arerotated until the camV engaging members 38 contact the stops 40 toposition the legs 34 in the position shown in Figs. l and 2. The iron isthen lowered so that the ends of the legs 34 engage the supportingsurface. The weight of the iron will then hold the legs 34 in supportingposition and the iron will be supported in an inclined position,asshown, by the ends of the leg 34 and the rear ends of the downwardextensions 26.

To move the legs 34 back to retracted position it is only necessary totip the iron backwardly and the springs 41 and 36 will return the legsto retracted position so as to lie closely against the cover shell I4.

As in the modification of Figs. 1 and 2 the modiiication of Figs. 3 and4 has supporting legs 32 comprising angular extensions 34 and pintles 33rotatably mounted in the ears 3l of bracket 3i) and spring-biasedinwardly by the springs 3S acting between the ears 3| and the shoulders31. Also the pintles are connected by the shaft 35 slidably andnon-rotatably received in the recesses in the ends of the pintles 33.

Non-rotatably attached to the central portion of the shaft 35 are a pairof crank arms 5I) having slots 5I in their outer ends which cooperatewith a pin or bolt 52 passing through an opening in the lower end of anactuating link 53. At its upper end the link 53 carries a pin or bolt 54passing through a slot 55 in the arm 5S of an actuating lever 51pivotally mounted in the recess 28 at 58. The lever 51 is spring-biasedclockwise by a spring 59 and extends through a slot 30 through the frontof leg I9. At its lower end the slot G0 has an offset 6I for a purposewhich will be described hereinafter.

Intermediate its ends the link 53 carries a pair of wedges 52 projectingfrom either side thereof. The wedges 62 cooperate with a pair of rollers63 carried by the upper end of crossed links 34 pivoted intermediatetheir ends, at 65 where they cross each other, by a bracket E3 extendingupwardly from the cover shell I4. At their lower ends the crossed links64 carry rollers 51 which coact with the outer ends of shoulders 31 onpintles 33 in a manner which will presently appear.

Operation of Figures 3 and 4 The angular extensions 34 of legs 32normally lie closely against the cover shell I4 in the position shown indotted lines of Fig. 3. When it is desired to support the iron its frontend is raised slightly and the lever 51 moved forwardly against theVbias of spring 59. During the first part of the movement of the lever 51the actuating link 53 will be moved downwardly to cause the wedges 62 toengage the rollers S3 and move the upper ends of crossed links B4 apart.This will cause the lower` ends of the crossed links 64 to move apartwhereby the rollers 61 will engage the shoulders 31 on the ends ofpintles 33 and move the legs 32 outwardly against the bias of springs 38so that the angular extensions 34 will clear the sides of the sole plateIG. At the same time the lower end of the actuating link 53 will rotatethe crank arms 55 clockwise as viewed in Fig. 3. This will rotate theshaft 35 and correspondingly the pintles 33 and move the angularextensions 34 of the legs 32 to the position shown in Fig. 4. The lever51 is then moved into the oiset 5I of the slot to whereby the legs 32are locked in supporting position. The lower ends of the angularextensions 3d and the downwardly extending lugs 23 will then support theiron in an inclined position as shown.

To release the legs 32 for movement to retracted position it is merelynecessary to move the lever 51 from recess 6I and the legs will bereturned to retracted position under the combined action of the springs59 and 36.

According to each of the modications shown the supporting legs aresupported from the cover shell and are not in heat exchange relationshipwith the sole plate so that they will be comparatively cool at alltimes. Additionally the air cooled rearwardly extending support is alsocomparatively cool thus assuring that Athe ironing board cover ormaterial being pressed will not be scorched or burned when the iron issupported in its inclined position.

Also according to each modification the supporting legs are moved totheir nal retracted position by spring action.

According to the modification of Figs. l and 2 the supporting legs areheld in extended position by the weight of the iron against the bias ofthe retracting springs.

According to the modification of Figs. 3 and a the supporting legs areheld in their extended position by latching the operating lever in itsforward operative position,

While I have shown but two modifications of my invention it is to beunderstood that these modications are to be taken as illustrative onlyand not in a limiting sense. I do not wish to be limited to theparticular structure shown and described but to include all equivalentvariations thereof except as limited by the scope of the claims.

I claim:

i. An electric smoothing iron comprising, a sole plate, a cover shellsecured to said sole plate, said sole plate extending outwardly beyondthe sides of said cover shell, a manipulating handle having a frontsupporting post secured to said cover shell, a bracket secured to theunder surface of said cover shell beneath said front supporting post, apair of supporting members having pintles rotatably and slidably carriedby said bracket and having angularly extending legs normally lyingclosely against said cover shell above said sole plate and meansoperable from said handle supporting post for sliding said pintlesoutwardly of said cover shell and simultaneously rotating them wherebysaid angularly extending legs are moved outwardly so as to clear theedges of said sole plate and downwardly so that their ends extend belowthe lower surface of said sole plate.

2. A smoothing iron comprising, a sole plate, a cover shell secured tosaid sole plate, the side edges of said sole plate extending outwardlybeyond the side edges of said cover plate, a manipulating handle securedto said cover shell, a pair of supporting legs carried by said covershell adjacent its front end, said supporting legs having pintlesslidably and rotatably mounted relative to said cover shell on ahorizontal axis so that said supporting legs normally lie in ahorizontal position against the sides of said cover shell and meansoperable from said manipulating handle and operatively connected withsaid pintles for slidably moving said legs outwardly relative to saidcover shell so as to clear the edges of Said sole plate andsimultaneously rotating them relative to said cover shell to move theends of said legs to a position below said sole plate into a position tosupport said sole plate above a supporting surface.

3. A smoothing iron according to claim 2 including spring means forbiasing said legs to retracted position and in which said supportinglegs extend forwardly at an angle to said sole plate when extended sothat the engagement of the ends of said legs with a supporting surfacepermits the weight of the iron to hold said legs in extended position.

4. A smoothing iron according to claim 2 including spring means forbiasing said legs to retracted position and means for latching said legsin extended position against the bias of said spring means.

5. A smoothing iron comprising, a sole plate, a cover shell secured tosaid sole plate, the side edges of said sole plate extending outwardlybeyond the side edges of said cover plate, a manipulating handle securedto said cover shell, a bracket extending downwardly from said covershell adjacent its front end, a pair of supporting legs having pintlesslidably and rotatably mounted by said bracket with said legs normallylying in a horizontal retracted position against the sides of said covershell, a shaft non-rotatably but slidably mounted in recesses in theinner ends of said pintles, a pair of cams extending downwardly fromsaid cover shell adjacent the ends of said pintles, cam engaging memberscarried by the ends of said pintles in a position to engage said cam andmanually actuatable means operable from said manipulating handlev forrotating said shaft to rotate said pintles and cause said cam engagingmembers to ride over said cams and move said pintles outwardly so thatsaid supporting legs will clear the side edges of said sole plate as theends of said legs are rotated to a position extending below the lowersurface of said sole plate to support the iron in an inclined positionupon a supporting surface.

6. A smoothing iron according to claim 5 in which said manuallyactuatable means comprises a toothed gear fixed to said shaft and areciprocating rack bar having teeth engaging the teeth of said gear,said rack extending upwardly to the top of said manipulating handle intoa position to be easily manipulated.

7. A smoothing iron comprising, a sole plate, a cover shell secured tosaid sole plate, the side edges of said sole plate extending outwardlybeyond the side edges of said cover plate, a manipulating handle securedto said cover shell, a bracket extending downwarly from said cover shelladjacent its front end, a pair of supporting legs having pintlesslidably and rotatably mounted by said bracket with said legs normallylying in a horizontal retracted position against the sides of said covershell, a shaft non-rotatably but slidably mounted in recesses in theinner ends of said pintles, a shoulder carried by the inner ends of eachof said pintles, a pair of crossed links pivotally mounted on said covershell and having their lower ends in engagement with said shoulders andmanually actuatable means operable from said manipulating handle forsimultaneously rotating said shaft and moving the upper ends of saidcrossed links outwardly relative to each other to cause their lower endsto move outwardly and move said pintles outwardly so that said legs willclear the side edges of said cover shell as said shaft rotates said legsso that their ends move below said sole plate into a position to supportthe iron in an inclined position upon a supporting surface.

8. A smoothing iron according to claim 7 in which said manuallyactuatable means comprises a crank arm secured to said shaft, anoscillating actuating link having its lower end secured to said crankarm to rotate the same and a pivoted lever extending upward through saidmanipulating handle for oscillating said actuating link, and saidactuating link having opposed wedge surfaces engaging the upper ends ofsaid crossed links whereby oscillation of said actuating link willsimultaneously rotate said shaft and move the upper ends of said crossedlinks outwardly relative to each other.

9. A smoothing iron according to claim 2 including spring means fornormally biasing said legs to their horizontal retracted positionagainst the sides of said cover shell.

10. A smoothing iron comprising; a sole plate; a cover shell secured tosaid sole plate and eX- tending beyond the rear end thereof to form axed support; a handle secured to said cover shell and having a hollowfront leg; a pair of supporting members pivotally supported by saidcover shell beneath said hollow front leg; said supporting membersincluding supporting legs exten-ding outside of and normally lying alongthe sides of said cover shell; said supporting legs being of a lengththat their ends extend below said sole plate when pivoted downwardlyrelative to said cover shell; and manually actuatable means connected tosaid supporting members, extending upwardly through said hollow frontleg and being accessible from the top thereof to actuate said supportingmembers to move the ends of said supporting legs below the lower face ofsaid sole plate a distance such that the iron may be supported on asupporting surface by the ends of said supporting legs and said fixedsupport with the sole plate free of the supporting surface.

11. A smoothing iron according to claim 10 in which said manuallyactuatable means is spring biased to a position to move said supportinglegs to their retracted position.

12. A smoothing iron according to claim 1l in which said supportingmembers are also slidably mounted on said cover shell and are springbiased to normally hold said supporting legs closely against said covershell.

13. A smoothing iron according to claim 12 in which said manuallyactuatable means includes means to move said supporting membersoutwardly of said cover shell so as to first move said supporting legsclear of said sole plate and'to thereafter Amove them to their extendedposition.

le. A smoothing iron according to claim 10 in which said supportingmembers are also slidably mounted on said cover shell and are springbiased to normally hold said supporting legs closely against said covershell.

15. A smoothing iron according to claim 14 in which said manuallyactuatable means includes means to move said supporting Lkmembersoutwardly of said cover shell to iirst move said supporting legs clearof said sole plate and to thereafter move them to their extendedposition.

HERBERT W. WILSON.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 2,308,125 Stevenson Jan. 12, 1943 FOREIGN PATENTS NumberCountry Date 651,605 Germany Oct. 16, 1937

